AUBURN, Wash. (Jan. 24, 2017)—The Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG), a leader in the certification of gluten-free products and food services, announces its Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) program has received ISO/IEC 17065:2012 (ISO 17065) accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). ISO 17065 is the international quality standard for organizations certifying products, processes and services. GFCO, the largest gluten-free certification program in North America, certifies more than 30,000 food, personal-care and supplement products.

GFCO uses the strictest standards for gluten-free certification, requiring products to have 10 parts per million (ppm) or less of gluten, rather than the 20ppm required by the FDA for gluten-free labeled products. GFCO not only certifies that a company’s processes meet GFCO’s standards, but also that the product itself meets the 10ppm-or-less standard.

“We pursued this rigorous accreditation to serve as an independent validation of all aspects of our program and to assure our customers and consumers that GFCO’s systems are comprehensive and that every GFCO certified company follows our standards,” said Cynthia Kupper, CEO of GIG. “The accreditation differentiates us from certification organizations that only focus on a company’s management and processes. When a consumer sees our logo, they know we not only certified that the company’s processes are safe, but that we also certified that the product produced is 10ppm or less gluten.”

GFCO sets the highest standards in quality control and assurance for gluten-free certification, including risk assessment, plant audits, equipment testing, and product testing both in the plant and at the point of consumer purchase. GFCO has certified products for more than 750 companies and 1,600 gluten-free brands worldwide.